Chicken Chile Verde
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3-4 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, coarsely chopped
- 4 anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, coarsely chopped
- 2 jalapeno chiles, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 medium/large russet potato, peeled, medium dice
- 14 medium tomatillos, husked and quartered
- 3 tbsp. fresh oregano, coarsely chopped (or 1 tbsp. dried)
- 1 tbsp. dried ancho chile pepper (or similar dried chile pepper)
- 1 tbsp. ground cumin
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
In a large (5 quart or so) dutch oven, heat a tbsp. of oil.
Add the onions, garlic, and jalepenos to the pot, and cook until tender. Remove and set aside.
Add a couple tablespoons of oil to the pot, and get it good and hot. Cut the chicken into 2cm pieces, coat with flour, and season with salt and pepper. Put the chicken in the pot and get it nice and golden brown and crusty. Do this in batches, don't overcrowd the pot, don't screw it up. This is your flavour. Remove all the chicken from the pot, and set aside.
Deglaze the pot with the chicken stock, scraping loose all the good brown bits stuck to the bottom.
Then add everything except the cilantro to the pot, bring to a boil, and simmer on low for an hour or so (until the potatoes are tender, and the tomatillos have mostly disintegrated). Stir in the cilantro just before serving.
This is nice topped with the usual suspects, like sour cream and/or crumbled tortilla chips. Have home-made tortillas along side, to win the merit badge for Awesome.